The egg. The French are known for being wizards of uplifting this humble item to culinary heights. After all, pages and pages have written about the French Omelet and how to achieve it in all its perfection. But there is so much more than that. There’s l’oeuf frit, l’oeuf mollet, sabayons, quiches, custards, soufflés, and the list goes on and on. It’s not just a breakfast item in France; it’s more of… well, it’s just more. The cookbook La Bonne Cuisine D’Aujoud’hui, which has dedicated 22 pages to eggs very simply states it, “There is not good cooking without eggs: get to know them well.”
L’oeuf frit, or fried egg, was even part of the most prestigious cooking competition in France: Meilleurs Ouvriers de France 2010. Considered part of a lost cuisine that is being re-found, l’oeuf frit is a 3-dimensional piece of art that resembles more of a fluffy meringue than the slightly burned and runny disc cooked in the leftover bacon fat. Then there is l’oeuf mollet, a type of pouched egg. The cracked egg is swirled into boiling water so the white totally encompasses the yolk so it remains only partially cooked. When executed correctly, the egg looks like a piece of fresh mozzarella.
I’ve tried reproducing both of these, and while most of the results were eatable, they did not resemble the true end product. I’ve been through dozens of eggs just trying to do what I’ve seen chefs effortlessly achieve in less than a minute. Of course, I haven’t seen the decades of practice behind that simple act, but it’s an egg for Pete’s sake, it should be simple. However, I have learned the egg is complicated in its simplicity.
France’s cuisine will always be synonymous with the egg; it continues to grace the menus of starred chefs who very proudly elevate it into the spotlight. That said, I think it’s only fitting to end with what Thomas Moore once stated, “Yet, who can help loving the land that has taught us Six hundred and eighty-five ways to dress eggs?”
